October Sales Up at Melody?s

Steve Melody said on Oct. 22 that his two retail stores in Fayetteville’s Northwest Arkansas Mall would probably see a 7 to 10 percent increase in sales for the entire month of October compared to October 2002.r

Both of Melody’s stores are named Melody’s Choices, but one is called The Gift Store and the toy shop is named The Fun Store. Melody is representative of local retailers whose business depends on the Christmas shopping season.r

Melody said most of the year was flat for his two stores, but September sales increased by 8.9 percent. With the healthy gain in October, Melody is predicting a good November and December, “but a good snow could kill us,” he said. For the past three years, his Christmas sales figures have been “holding steady.”r

Melody said he had some sales incentives in October, which he does every year, and “we’re seeing a high rate of return” on those. He also provided a coupon book for shoppers this year.r

Nationally, retailers have pushed Halloween like never before this year, and Halloween is now considered the beginning of the fourth-quarter holiday season, which is a make-it-or-break-it time for many retailers.r

With the Halloween push, more people are decorating their homes and lawns with witches and vampires.r

“Household decor in general is up,” Melody said, referring to Halloween items. “I think people look at this more like the beginning of the holidays, with Thanksgiving and Christmas following, so the home decor is really strong …r

“Halloween is becoming the second or third largest holiday that one would think of for gifts and accessories. For decorating, it’s No. 2.”r